A KPI (Key Performance Indicator) dashboard is a visual display of the most important business metrics, presented in a format that enables rapid assessment of performance. FP&A teams design dashboards to highlight financial and operational KPIs, track trends, flag exceptions, and provide management with an at-a-glance view of business health.
In Depth
A KPI dashboard condenses complex financial and operational data into a visual summary that tells the story of business performance in seconds. The best dashboards answer the question "how is the business doing?" before the viewer reads a single number.
Effective dashboard design follows several principles. Limit to 10-15 KPIs — more than this overwhelms rather than informs. Group metrics logically (financial, customer, operational, people). Show trends rather than point-in-time values where possible. Use consistent colour coding (green for positive, red for concern). Include targets or benchmarks for context.
Common FP&A dashboard metrics include: revenue (actual vs budget, trend), gross margin, operating margin or EBITDA margin, cash position and runway, MRR or ARR (for subscription businesses), customer metrics (acquisition, churn, NRR), headcount (actual vs plan), and budget variance summary.
Dashboards should be tiered for different audiences. The CEO dashboard might show 10 high-level KPIs. Departmental dashboards add relevant operational detail. The board dashboard focuses on strategic metrics and trend direction.
For UK businesses, dashboards should include any regulatory or compliance metrics relevant to the industry (FCA metrics for financial services, CQC metrics for healthcare) alongside standard financial KPIs.
Real-World Example
A UK SaaS company's CEO dashboard shows 12 KPIs on a single page: ARR (£4.2M, up 45% YoY), MRR growth (£28K net new), gross margin (76%), burn rate (£95K/month), runway (22 months), NRR (118%), customer churn (1.2%/month), pipeline coverage (3.2x), headcount (48 vs 50 plan), CAC payback (11 months), NPS (52), and cash (£2.1M). Each metric shows current value, trend arrow, and RAG status against target.
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